Teachers staged a protest in Athens on Friday in protest at troika-imposed reforms of the civil service including forced transfers and layoffs of teachers.

The turnout at the rally, which was organized by the Federation of Secondary School Teachers (OLME), was small, but the union leader Themis Kotsyfakis said he expected protests to intensify ahead of a 24-hour strike planned for February 7, the day on which the Council of State is due to hear an appeal by teachers against their induction into a so-called mobility scheme of forced transfers and layoffs.

"Starting from today, we are launching a new cycle of protests against layoffs and mobility," Kotsyfakis said.